OneShot: The Planning
by xSassyJane
Summary: Troy and Gabriella are getting married. Gabriella panics. They get help. Enter wacky wedding planner. Can they handle it? TXG.Part one of...a few? R


**Ok,so here's the first one-shot. It's the longest I have EVER written. Just a few lines over 7 pages. I can ultimately say that was because of my Twitter friend Sandy. ILY 3. I'm quite proud tbh so please review. I don't even know when I'll start the next one because I just got back to school and everythings a bit crazy. Thanks for reading and I'll be your BFF if you review =]**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything mentioned, not even Sandy =P**

* * *

One-Shot: The Planning.

Gabriella Montez and Troy Bolton are busy people.

She is fresh out of college, Stanford to be precise, and has just secured an internship at a high-flying lawyer's office. So as well as attending meetings and going with the more experienced lawyers to court cases, Gabriella was running around getting coffee and taking lunch orders. But she was happy. She was expecting a long gruellingprocess trying to get a job and for her first one to be a complete dump. But she was in an educational, swanky, clean office with polite, kind and helpful people. And she is very happy with it.

Her fiancé, Troy Bolton, is an up and coming basketball star. At the moment, he is also very busy. He is at the beginning stages of the drafting process, trying out. He had been working extra hard lately, trying to improve in any way possible. His dream team is the Lakers because one, they are his favourite team, and two, since his fiancé was based in LA now, he wanted to be too. After a great four years at Berkley, where he got a scholarship, Troy was ready for bigger and better things.

But the one thing that has remained pretty much at the back of their minds?

Their wedding.

Troy proposed the summer before their final year at pair had returned to Albuquerque tospend the season with their families and each other. They spent June catching up with their parents and friends who travelled home from various parts of the country. Then in the beginning of July, Troy surprised Gabriella with a two week vacation to Maui. Midway through that vacation, Troy had taken Gabriella to the beach just before sunset and popped the question as the sun went course, Gabriella immediately said yes and they retreated to their villa and stayed there for the remaining week.

When they returned to Albuquerque for the rest of the summer, they celebrated with everyone and anyone. News spread fast, with much help from Troy and Gabriella's mothers. People came up to them in the street to congratulate them. Troy and Gabriella may not have completely known some of the people, but that didn't stop them from graciously thanking the strangers and regaling the proposal tale. Each time, Gabriella let Troy tell the story. She believes since he was the one who did most of the work, it's his story to tell. Troy joked how childbirth will be Gabriella's story each and every time.

The rest of the summer was spent with their mother talking plans and grandchildren at lightning speed and with their fathers joking about the domesticated life the couple will eventually live. But no definite plans were made. And very little were made during the school year. The date was decided. November 24th, the month between both their birthdays. Gabriella bought two bridal magazines. That's about it. Now it's mid-June. That gives them about five months to plan a 'big but not too big' wedding. Only recently had the thought even crossed their minds, after both had received phone calls from their mothers asking about flower arrangements and place settings. Secretly, they both went into panic mode. Gabriella secretly buys bridal magazines and changed her jogging route so she passes a few florists on the way. Troy oh-so-casually glances into the tuxedo stores he passes when he goes to get his strawberry banana smoothie after his workouts. But neither share this information. In their heads, they are planning everything for themselves. Just not for each other.

Big mistake.

* * *

Gabriella sighed as she pulled into her parking space. Troy's car was parked in his spot right beside hers. Gabriella had a bundle of magazines as usual, a bag of materials she got after a quick visit to a dress store during her lunch break and the folder. The folder she used to keep all her ideas for the wedding. The folder she brought everywhere with her in case she got inspiration. The folder Troy didn't know existed. She was hoping she'd get home before Troy so she wouldn't have to sneak the stuff inside but she got held up at the office with a super long case research she was given by her boss.

Gabriella didn't think Troy had put any real thought into the wedding. He was a guy. They aren't supposed to be interested in the planning. They were supposed to get tuxes and show up on the day. Gabriella gathered her 'bridal bag' and her purse and headed for the elevator to bring her to their fifth floor apartment. She waited patiently to reach her floor and walked down the hall, key in hand. She needed to be fast if she was going to get away without Troy seeing. She loved everything about him except his observation skills. He could tell if she was upset or angry just by looking at her, no matter how much she tried to hide it sometimes. She turned her key in the lock and quickly pushed open the door.

"Hey babe!" She said in a flurry, rushing to their bedroom to put her bridal bag in the closet.

Troy turned his head from the couch to see her rush past him. Intrigued, he followed her. "Everything ok?" He called as he followed her to their room. He got there just in time to see her shove something in her side of the closet. "Whatcha got there?"

Gabriella whipped around and stood protectively in front of the closed closet door. "Nothing."

Troy looked at her closely for a minute. She was hiding something. "What is it?"

"I told you. Nothing."

"Come on! It has to be something important! Tell me!"

"No."

"Is it shoes you know are too expensive but you 'couldn't live without'?"

Gabriella shook her head.

"Is it....tampons? Cos you shouldn't be embarrassed about that. I've bought you tampons before."

"No Troy."

"Come on. Please tell me!"

"It's not a big deal Troy. Drop it."

"Oh my God, is it a pregnancy test? We were being safe! You couldn't be preg-"

"Troy! It's nothing okay. Now get out, I wanna get changed."

Troy turned around to leave when he stopped. "Since when do you care if I'm in the room when you're getting dressed?"

_Crap_ Gabriella thought. He had a point. Pretty much straight away after their relationship turned physical, Gabriella had been comfortable to be naked or in her underwear in front of Troy. "Em...I mean..."

"Gabriella, what's really in that bag? And don't think I can't and won't move you to find out."

Gabriella sighed. She lost this battle. Turning around, she opened the closet door and dug inside for her bag. Grasping the handle, she tugged and it came out easily. Taking a deep breath, she turned to face Troy and held out the bag. "Here."

Troy took the bag from her and sat down on the bed, resting against the headboard. Turning the bag upside down, everything fell out. Troy took a minute to look through the items. There was about five magazines, all with some relation to weddings, materials like silk and lace in ivory and cream and shimmery gold and a chunky folder with 'My Wedding' written in Gabriella's swirly writing on the front. That caught Troy's attention.

Troy swiftly flicked through the folder, flowers and table arrangements catching his eye but not his attention until he saw _that_. The simple black tux with a baby pink tie and crisp white shirt. "Gabriella, what the hell is this?"

Gabriella sighed, defeated. She moved to sit beside him on their bed. "It's...it's the wedding plans."

"You've done all of this...and didn't tell me..."

"Well, I have a good reason! My mom called me about three weeks ago and freaked me out by telling me how stressful planning a wedding is and I...I panicked so I started gathering everything I could and...that's the outcome."

"My mom called me too. I've been looking around but I didn't plan our _whole wedding_."

"I didn't plan the whole wedding, just...most of it."

"Gabriella, you have a seating arrangement made."

"Ok, so what if I planned the whole thing?! It's not like you would have been interested anyway."

"_You _get to decide if I'm interested or not? This is _our _wedding Gabriella. Not yours, not mine, ours."

"I know that! But you told me that I could have whatever I wanted, that it should be my dream day."

"And I do want you to have your dream day, but a little consulting with me wouldn't have hurt!" Gabriella ducked her head and they both went silent. "How did you even do this much in three weeks anyway?"

Gabriella shrugged her shoulders. "I panicked."

Another silence fell in the room. "Maybe...maybe we should get some help."

"Like therapy?!"

"No Gabriella! I mean like a wedding planner or something. I mean, it couldn't hurt to get a little help with this."

"Hey! I was doing just fine until today."

"I'm sure you were babe, but we should make these decisions together, even if most of it will probably be what you pick. We need to make a happy medium."

"Fine. I guess we should call around."

"Yeah, _we _will call around. Okay?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Now let's start looking for a wedding planner!"

Enter Sandy Dawson.

* * *

Sandy Dawson had seen a wide variety of couples. Some were laidback, happy to just let a stranger take the reins. Some couples had their wedding planned, but wanted someone to make it happen for them. And some...some couldn't agree on anything. Her latest couple were a mixture. From what she gathered over the phone, the woman had everything planned, but they had had a disagreement and wanted to leave it up to someone else. They had agreed to meet in Sandy's office the next day, to lay down the tracks. She wanted to get a feel of what they were like, but also see what plans were already made. Then she could offer her help.

So now Sandy was sat in her office, looking through the glass wall of her office, waiting to see a couple approach her receptionist and then see them walk to towards her. She was mindlessly looking at the latest Dessy collection online when she heard the elevator ping. Subtly tilting her head to the side to see her new clients, she watched as a tall, muscular man and a petite, tan woman exited the elevator, his arm around her shoulders, hers around his waist. '_Comfortable'_ Sandy thought. She kept her eyes on them as they walked, in step with each other might she add, to the receptionist. The man, who she gathered to be Troy, spoke up probably announcing their appointment. She saw her receptionist smile at them and type a few things into her computer before nodding and telling them to come right through. Sandy moved her head back to in front of the computer screen and sat a little straighter to see them at the door. She smiled politely and nodded, taking note that Troy opened the door for Gabriella. She stood to shake their hands and do the introductions before they all took their seats.

"So Troy, Gabriella, what exactly do you need me for? We discussed this over the phone but I want to hear it right now, straight up."

Troy and Gabriella glanced at each other, silently fighting over who should explain the story. Troy won. "Basically, we are planning to get married November 24th. Gabriella has done a lot of planning without telling me because she thought I wouldn't be interested in it but I am. So I suggested we find a wedding planner who can help us make decisions together."

Sandy nodded. "Okay. And Gabriella did you bring your folder?" Gabriella promptly nodded and pulled it out of her purse. "Great, let me just take a look." For a few minutes they all sat in silence. Troy and Gabriella waited anxiously for Sandy's opinion. After they had called Sandy the previous night, Troy had taken a proper look at the folder. It was exactly what he thought Gabriella would want, which gave him all the more reason to insist this wedding planner was necessary."Well Gabriella, you certainly put a lot of effort into this."

"It's nothing really."

"It's quite something actually. But, you aren't happy with it Troy?"

"Well, not entirely no. I mean it is amazing and stuff like dresses and shoes, that's entirely up to Gabi but I want some input too."

Sandy nodded in understanding. "Ok, well here's how we'll do it. Gabriella first, go dress shopping. You tell me when and where and I'll be there, just to take notes. I also need to know about the bridesmaids dresses, if you have them picked out. All that needs to be down before I get to Troy. We'll need to co-ordinate colours and such. Both of these tasks are going to be done separately ok?" Troy and Gabriella nodded instantly. "Alright. Then _together _we'll talk color schemes which will lead on to flower arrangements, table cloths and all that jazz. Right now though, we need to talk numbers and locations. It's imperative that the invitations go out a maximum of four months before the wedding. So since we only have five months, we'll send them out three months prior. I'm not asking you to list off distant relatives on the spot, don't worry. This weekend we'll look at stationary and such. So take the next few days to make a list of all your friends and family. But we also need to look at where you want this to be held. Some places might have capacities and obviously some churches won't hold a thousand people. So do you have any ideas about where you want to get married. Here in California? Hawaii? Europe?"

Troy and Gabriella sat mildly stunned at the woman in front of them before speaking. "Em, we haven't actually put that much thought into that. Well I haven't, have you?" Gabriella asked, turning her head to look at Troy who shook his head in response.

"Ok, well let's get thinking. Any places that hold special value? Any dream locations?"

"Well it would either be here in California or in Albuquerque, we're both from there and all our family is there." Troy said. "I don't know which would be better in November though."

"It depends. Did you pick November at random or because you wanted a winter wedding or anything like that?"

Gabriella spoke up this time. "We picked November because it's the month between our birthdays. And I do kind of want a winter wedding."

"And the feeling is mutual about the winter wedding?"

"Yep." They said in unison.

"I personally would go with Albuquerque if you want more of a winter experience, because let's face it, you can wear shorts in November here. But the decision is entirely yours."

Sandy sat back as the couple quietly discussed and weighed their options. They soon finished and Troy began. "I think we'll go with Albuquerque. It'll be easier for our parents too."

"Alright, so I'm assuming you both know the area well. Any ideas on churches you would like or hotels you want to hold the reception?" Troy was about to speak again when Sandy interrupted him. "Don't answer that. Numbers for the church are sometimes different then the numbers for the reception. We'll do that when we do the invitations this weekend. So get in contact with your parents, look up places and I'll do my own research and we'll do it all. Any questions?"

"I don't think so..."

"Great! Well, you guys decide where our next meeting place is on... Saturday and I'll see you guys then!"

They said their goodbyes and Troy and Gabriella left. They headed back to the elevator and down to the car park. Troy opened Gabriella's door for her, before sliding in himself. "That went...well." Gabriella said as they left the car park.

"That was so weird. And don't pretend you didn't think so." Troy argued, making Gabriella laugh as they began the drive home.

* * *

The next few months went in a flurry. Now they were in the middle of September and Gabriella's mother, along with Taylor and Sharpay, had flown to California to assist with the dress shopping. By now, the church had been booked, the hotel had been picked and the invitations were sent out. Troy and Gabriella had received most of the RSVPs almost straight away, so they had been able to give the hotel a rough estimate of guests. After Troy and Gabriella had made phone calls and added everything up, their guest list came to about 100 people, which they considered to be quite small. But they wanted small. So they were happy with that.

Gabriella and Maria left the apartment to meet Taylor and Sharpay for coffee before meeting Sandy at the first bridal store. They were not only looking for Gabriella's dress but also the bridesmaids dresses. Gabriella was still very keen on baby pink as the color scheme but Troy wasn't so sure. He knew he would probably give in to her eventually but the deal was unless the baby pink dresses were 'too die for' and 'exactly what she had in mind', there was no color scheme picked out. Thankfully Troy had faith that Gabriella wouldn't pick dresses just for the color. Sandy's plans were still kind of sketchy to Gabriella. She was basically told to meet Sandy at 11 am at Vera Wang in Beverly Hills. But after that she had no idea. So she met her best friends for a quick coffee at Starbucks at ten thirty before they all went to the store. Little did she know that it would be a very _very _long process.

Five hours later, Gabriella had two bridesmaid dresses bought. Two rose coloured bridesmaid dresses. They weren't baby pink but when Sharpay pulled it off the rack, she knew it would look perfect. After a quick call to Troy to inform me of the color choice and some brief begging, both of her bridesmaids were being fitted. Unfortunately Gabriella hadn't had such luck. They had been in six bridal stores. Gabriella was tired. Her mom and Taylor were being good sports but she knew they were tired too. Sharpay was the only one who still had a whole load of energy left. And Sandy of course. She knew it was a wedding planner's job to be in the know of where to go but Sandy knew so much more. She knew who could do alterations fastest, who could give the best price, who has better accessories. It shocked Gabriella that Sandy actually knew that much.

Now they were in Studio City, having worked their way around Los Angeles, and Gabriella was fed up of looking for dresses. She knew there would be a little struggle to find the perfect dress for her but she had never thought it would take this long. Gabriella isn't a picky dresser. She knows what she likes. Sharpay insists her wardrobe is very boring, but that's probably because it isn't full of pink and rhinestones. But for some reason, she could not find the right dress. One is too sequined, another is more ivory than off-white. There was something wrong with everyone she picked up. If she didn't find the dress soon, she'd wear her underwear down the aisle.

"Ok Gabriella, June and I have picked out about eight dresses so if you want to go back there and start trying them on?"

Gabriella nodded and sighed, giving her purse to her mother who was sitting comfortable in an armchair. She walked behind the curtain and started the long process again.

After nearly two hours of putting on dresses, finding something wrong with them and pulling them off again, Gabriella was ready to give up. She was on the last dress and so fed up, she barely even looked at it before it was being slipped over her head. It wasn't until Clara, the other assistant, began fastening it up that Gabriella looked up. Her eyes grew wide as she took it in. The ecru color popped against her olive skin. It was strapless and puffed out a little bit at the waist down to the floor. The torso was draped horizontally with a small bow Clara stepped away and smiled. Gabriella walked out of the large dressing room and out to a resounding gasp. She stood in front of the three way mirror where she had a clear view of her dress and her shocked shopping buddies.

"Gabriella...wow..." Sharpay said. Gabriella smiled softly and nodded. "Did you see the back?" Gabriella's face scrunched in confusion as she turned and gasped again. The back was low, but not too low and there were four crystal flower buttons sparkling back at her.

"I think this is the one." Almost immediately everyone swarmed at her, fiddling with her hair and discussing alterations. Clara came back over with a selection of veils and tiaras for her to try on. "I think I'll just look at the veils Clara. I don't really want to wear a tiara."

Clara smiled and began holding up veils. Looking in the mirror, even with people pulling at her, Gabriella could imagine herself walking down the aisle in that very dress.

* * *

Slowly it got nearer and nearer to the wedding. It was now mid-October. Troy, Gabriella and Sandy were going cake tasting and flower shopping. Sandy had shown them many flower arrangements online as templates but they had yet to pick one. Their first stop was a bakery Sandy suggested. They were currently seated at a large table in the bakery surrounded by samples of cake, pictures of cakes and anything else cake related. Troy and Gabriella are arguing over flavours. Troy wants chocolate fudge because he knows it's their favourite but Gabriella wants vanilla because it's more traditional. It seems to be an ongoing theme with Troy and Gabriella. They argue for a little while before someone comes up with a balance.

"Troy, have you ever seen a _brown _wedding cake?"

"Yes, Gabriella I have! Come on! You don't even like vanilla."

"So, we are feeding around one hundred people. Not everyone likes chocolate!"

Troy went to speak but Sandy cut in. "Ok, Troy wants chocolate. Gabriella do you want chocolate?"

"Well, I like it bu-..."

"No, I asked if you wanted it not if you liked it."

"Yeah. I do."

"Well then get it! It's your wedding, not your guests. This is like the first thing you both wanted and you're making it difficult." Troy smirked triumphantly at Gabriella's dumbstruck expression. "If you really want to fuss over them, why don't you get a mixture of layers?"

"You can do that?"

"Yep. You could get two layers chocolate, one vanilla. One vanilla, one chocolate, one fruit. The decision's yours."

Gabriella looked at Troy to see what he wanted. Somehow knowing they wanted the same thing, Gabriella went for bottom and middle layer chocolate fudge and white and light pink sugar flowers and top layer vanilla with white icing and white and light pink sugar flowers. The design of the cake was simple. Three-tiered, square, a little man and woman for the top.

"Ok, next stop, the flower shop." Sandy announced as they headed for the car park. Their next stop was Paraiso Flowers Inc. They already had the colors picked out but Gabriella and Troy were struggling with the flowers part. Troy wanted roses because they are common and reliable. Gabriella didn't because of the same reasons. Gabriella wanted lilies because they are her favourite flower. Troy didn't because he's convinced being near a lily will stain his clothes. Unfortunately for Sandy, neither really liked any other flower.

They walked into the brightly decorated building, into a sea of flowers and mini shrubs. Tall plants lined the wall, shelves of orchids and carnations. Almost immediately Troy went for the roses and Gabriella went for the lilies. Sandy walked in behind them and sighed. She had been right about Troy and Gabriella. They were quite the mixture. "Ok, before you two start bickering over this, let's check what colors are available. If there isn't any pink and white roses or lilies, we'll work from there." Sandy went up to the employee and used her wedding planner voice to give the young man exact directions. He hurried through a 'staff only' door, only to return with an older employee. Sandy smiled at him silently before they walked back over to Troy and Gabriella. "Ok, Jeff. These two know what they want. What flowers have you got in pink, preferably light, and white."

Jeff, a tall, plump man looked around his store for a moment before speaking. "We have white and pink orchids, white and pink daisies, white lilies, pink roses, white dahlias and...pink geraniums!

Sandy turned to Troy and Gabriella and clasped her hands together. "Ok so you guys decide. White lilies and pink roses? Just one assortment? Any of the other flowers? It's up to you guys."

They glanced at each other then the sweet smelling flowers around them. "Well, I guess we both get what we want then. If we go with white lilies and pink roses."

Troy nodded. "Yeah. We'll get lilies and roses."

Sandy smiled and turned to Jeff to explain the table arrangement they had already chosen and how many bouquets and church arrangements were needed and when they were needed.

With only a month to go, everything was slowly falling into place. But they were about to get much, much busier.

X


End file.
